Wednesday, May 14, 2008

the mother of all posts (so far)

I mentioned I was going to comment on a few activities a couple of posts back, but never got around to it.

Let's see...

I caught a sketch comedy show called All About Walken at Theatre 68 in L.A. That was an extremely fun show. If you're a Christopher Walken fan, keep your eye out for this show, you won't be disappointed. There were several highlights for me, from the improv part of the show to the chick that impersonated DeNiro. One highlight definitely wasn't my falling down a very short flight of stairs after I was "dragged" on stage. Oh, and did I mention, not only did I fall, I pretty much took a nose dive into the front row? But rest assured, the only thing damaged was my ego. All that was asked of me was to put on a "Walken" wig, walk out to the middle of the stage, and deliver my best "Wow!" ala Walken. The lights would then dim, a stagehand would run out to grab my wig, and I then was to walk back to my seat. Easy, right? Yeah. Uh. Not. Well, uh, it was very dark, and I was very clumsy. My heel clipped the top stair and I was airborn. The guys that stopped my fall, aka, the ones I landed on, were quite nice. They at least complimented my "Wow!" I guess situations like these make the best memories, and stories.

Next was the Santa Ana Art Walk. If you decide to attend, I recommend printing the Artist Village map, you'll definitely refer to it often. We had a fun night. Some very cool galleries to peruse. Some were extremely crowded whilst others stood unvisited. Various musical acts also set up along the alleys and building entrances. I loved the Cent Gallery. He had some beautiful fused glass pieces on display that made my mouth drool. lol So cool. Loved how he displayed the various stages of his glass artwork.

The Cherry Blossom Festival followed. We wandered around a bit. It was a much smaller festival than what I had imagined. We eventually wandered over to the Stage Plaza area and saw a taiko group perform. The group was mainly all women, I believe there was one male. Your chest vibrated from the drumming, kinda cool. We then ate at some Korean restaraunt at the Stage Plaza. It was ok, not great, service lacked. Oh, we did eat some Pink Berry though. I had been wanting to try Pink Berry for quite sometime. It was ok. Different. Much sweeter than regular yogurt. We walked around more afterwards. Kettle corn was delicious. Jeez, I love that stuff. I did get a very pretty blue, almost denim colored, glass pendant with looped sterling sliver wire inside. It reminded me of the fused glasses pieces we saw at the Cent Gallery.

I attended the America's Family Pet Expo at the Orange County fairgrounds. That was quite a bit of fun. Plus I gorged myself on kettle corn. Yummers. I think my favorite part was seeing Splash Dogs. Some of those dogs got some major air. Also realized that some people really love their cats. Some of these cats had mini-mansions set-up. Fifi has it good.

We caught a play called Rehearsal for Murder at Heritage Park in Santa Fe Springs. It was a community play alright. The main character was actually quite good. He looked extremely natural on the stage. The others... Well if you've ever seen Waiting for Guffman, you'll know what I'm talking about.

I finally got around to attending The Renaissance Pleasure Faire at the Santa Fe Dam Recreation Area in Irwindale. It's something I've wanted to do for years, but never found anyone interested enough in attending. I had a fantastic time. The weather was great. The people were all so friendly. I definitely want to go back next year, and hopefully for a longer visit. I ate one of those humongous turkey legs, seemed to take almost an hour to finish it, if not longer. Oh, I also got a henna tattoo of a faerie, she was purdy. It faded entirely too quickly though. All in all, I had a great time. I'm sure the "jug o' wine" we carted around contributed to the festivities.This past weekend I went to the Juanes concert at the Nokia Center with my very dear and lovely sister, Socorro, aka The Sacster. She bought the tickets and wanted someone to go with her. How can I turn down free concert tickets? :) Concert was sold out. Crazy hyped up fans everywhere. What caught my attention was the various languages you heard everywhere. I figured I'd mainly hear Spanish and, of course, English. There were people speaking German, French, something that sounded like Czech, and Japanese. All seemed as enthused to see Juanes as their Spanish speaking counterparts. Note: If you ever catch an event at the Nokia or Staples Center and are looking for a convenient restaurant before the show, you should try Roy's Hawaiaan Fusion Cuisine or Morton's, both are on Figueroa, blocks from the Nokia or Staples Centers. You can park in the lot on the corner of Figueroa and 8th, walk a few feet to your restaurant, and then take the complimentary shuttle to the centers. They suggest tipping the driver about $3-5 a person each way. After dinner at Roy's Socorro and I had a stretch Hummer limo to ourselves on the way to the Nokia Center. Very cool. Then we caught a "luxury van" on the way back. It was all sooooo much easier than fighting traffic. Parking, plus tips, cost the same as parking near the center. If you ask me, that's the way to go each time. :)